Beer keg fitting



Dec. 12, 1967 J, E. SICHLER 3,

BEER KEG FITTING Filed Jan. 17, 1966 ue E\ I I 2 4 2;

ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 3,357,602 BEER KEG FITTING Joseph E. Sichler, Short Hills, N.J., assignor to P. Bellantine dz Sous, Newark, N1, a corporation of New Jersey Filed Jan. 17, 1966, Ser. No. 521,195 4 Claims. (Cl. 222400.7)

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This beer keg fitting extends through an opening in the end of the keg and is permanently secured in the opening. The fitting has a center beer outlet with a check valve that is opened when a customers fitting is inserted into the beer keg fitting. A circle of gas passages extend through a bushing that surrounds the center beer outlet, and there is an annular check valve covering the lower ends of these gas passages. The check valve is made of an elastometer and has a top surface curved to deflect the gas flow and flushing water flow and has a thin flexible portion radially inward from a heavier circumferential lip'for making the valve open at very small pressure differentials.

Brief description of invention This invention relates to apparatus for withdrawing beer from kegs and the invention is an improvement on the type of apparatus disclosed in my co-pending application Ser. No. 415,064, filed Dec. 1, 1964, now Patent No. 3,294,291. This application is a continuation-in-part of application No. 415,064.

The invention relates to that type of equipment in which a beer keg is equipped with a tube, preferably a plastic tube, within the keg and reaching to the bottom of the keg for supplying beer to an outlet fitting at the top of the keg; and the outlet fitting has a check valve for preventing the escape of beer and a second check valve for admitting air or gas to the keg to maintain pressure on top of the beer while preventing escape of such pres sure. A complementary fitting, sometimes refer-red to as a customers fitting, connects with the fitting on the keg and has a part that projects into the keg fitting to open the beer check valve.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved apparatus of the character described, and more particularly to provide simplified apparatus having fewer parts and which is more economical to construct and to install. An important object of the invention is to provide such apparatus constructed in such a way that it can be installed into the outlet in the end Wall of a keg without any manipulation through the bunghole of the keg as was reviously required-This result is obtained partly because of a simplified air check valve construction positioned around the outlet tube in such a way as to decrease the overall width of the assembly.

The invention will be described with an adaptor for use with conventional beer kegs; and a modified form of the invention will be described in which a beer keg is constructed to take the fittings of this invention without requiring an adaptor.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear or be pointed out as the description proceeds.

Brief description of drawing In the drawing, forming a part hereof, in which like reference characters indicate corresponding parts in all the views;

FIGURE 1 is a view of a keg equipped with apparatus for withdrawing beer in accordance with this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a greatly enlarged, fragmentary, sectional view through the upper part of the keg and apparatus shown in FIGURE 1 with the customers fitting disconnected from the keg fitting for clearer illustration;

FIGURE 2A is a greatly enlarged view of a portion of the apparatus shown in FIGURE 2.

FIGURES 3 and 4 are sectional views taken on the lines 33 and 4-4 of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to a portion of FIGURE 2 but showing a modified form of the invention.

Detailed description of invention In FIGURE 1 a keg 10 is shown with a top wall 12 and a bottom wall 14. This keg has a keg fitting 20 descending through an opening in the top wall 12. At the lower end of the keg fitting 20 there is a tube or conduit 22 which extends all the way to the bottom 14. This tube 22 is. preferably made of flexible plastic and is slightly longer than the distance from the fitting 20 to the bottom wall 14 so that the tube remains arched to one side and in position to clear any Washing nozzles that may be inserted through a bung opening 23 in the side of the keg. The tube 22 is permanently located in the position shown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 2 shows the construction of the preferred form of the keg fitting 20. It includes an adaptor 30 which surrounds a bushing 32 within which there is a sleeve 34. The bushing 32 preferably fits with a press fit in the adaptor 30, but it may be held in place by a cement or other bonding agent. The sleeve 34 preferably fits with a pressed fit in the bushing 32 and extends into the bushing until it strikes a shoulder 36 near the upper end of the sleeve 34. This sleeve, instead of relying upon the friction of a press fit may be bonded to the bushing if desired.

The opening in the top wall 12, through which the keg fitting extends, is indicated by the reference character 40 in FIGURE 2. This opening has a cylindrical upstanding side wall 42 and a flange 44 connected to the upper end of the cylindrical side wall. If all beer kegs were made to close tolerances, this invention could be applied to beer kegs Without any alteration in the keg. However, the diameter of the opening 40 from one keg to another varies so much that it is advisable to run a tool through the opening 40 of each keg so as to bring it to a uniform diameter to receive the adaptor 30 of each unit of this invention which is applied to the successive kegs.

The adaptor 30 is pressed down into the opening 40 until a flange 46 at the top of the adaptor 30 comes in contact with the flange 44 of the opening in the wall of the keg. The flange 46 has a skirt 47 around its outer circumference and there are threads 48 on the circumference of the skirt 47. The flange 46 is wide enough, in a radial direction, to make the skirt 47 clear the flange 44. This provides enough axial length of the skirt 47 to permit enough threads 48 to be provided for obtaining a tight connection between the keg fitting of this invention and a customers fitting which will be described.

The bushing 32 has a main passage 52 through which beer is withdrawn from the keg. This main passage 52 is the passage into which the sleeve 34 fits; but the sleeve 34 extends for a substantial distance below the end of the bushing 32. There are a plurality of openings 54, at axially spaced locations around the bushing 32, for the flow of gas such as compressed air or carbon dioxide through the bushing 32 to maintain a pressure on top of the beer within the keg.

There is a groove or channel 56 in the top surface of the bushing 32. This channel 56 is angular and all of the openings 54 have their upper ends communicating with the channel 56. The openings 54 extend downwardly and converge as they approach the lower end of the bushing 32. The reason for this convergence is to locate the openings 54 close to the inside wall of the bushing 32 at their lower ends so that there is ample room for a check valve which will be described, and to locate the upper ends of the openings 54 in position for sealing these gas passages effectively from the main passage 54 and from leakage around the outside of the bushing 52 if the bushing 52 is not bonded to the adaptor 30.

There is a beer check valve unit 58 in the sleeve 34. This check valve unit 58 includes a seat 62 which fits into the sleeve 34 with a press fit, there being a shoulder 63 for limiting the extent to which the seat 62 is pushed upward into the sleeve 34. A valve element 64 moves upward into contact with the seat 62 to shut off any flow of beer upward through the sleeve 34. The valve element 64 has a stem 66 secured to a spider 68 which slides freely in the sleeve 34 and which is urged upward by a helical compression spring 76 confined between the upper end of the seat 62 and a shoulder near the upper end of the spider 68.

The check valve for the gas openings 54 is a flap type check valve 78 and it includes a body portion 80 which fits snugly around the outside of the sleeve 34 with one end of the body portion 80 in contact with the bottom face of the bushing 32. The check valve 78 is annular; and it has an annular flap 82 which extends outward across a supporting surface 84 on the bottom face of the bushing 32. A substantial part of the supporting space 84 is a frusto-conical surface with its axis substantially coincident with the axis of the sleeve 34- and with its surface extending at an acuteangle to the axes of the gas openings 54.

The portion of the gas check valve 78 immediately beyond the lower ends of the gas openings 54 extends at an acute angle to the axis of these openings 54 and is an end face of a portion of the valve 78 which is of substantial cross-section and which is rigid enough so that it does not have any consequential distortion during changes in pressure in the openings 54 and in the portion of the beer keg around the outside of the valve 78.

The flap portion 82 of the gas check valve 78, how ever, extends outwardly from the substantially rigid part of this check valve 78 which is immediately below the lower end of the openings 54; and this flap portion 82 is relatively thin and quite flexible, especially where it joins the more rigid center portion of the valve 78. Thus any increase in pressure in the openings 54 in excess of the pressure surrounding the outside of the check valve 78, causes the flap portion '82 to bend with some hinge action about its inner section and to move away from the confronting surface 84 of the bottom face of the bushing 32. Gas flows through this clearance between the confronting faces of the flap portion 82 and the bushing 32, and very little excess pressure is required to open this clearance. When the pressure in the keg is greater than the pressure in the openings 54, the flap portion 82 of the valve 78 is pressed tightly against the supporting surface 84 of the bushing 32 but because of the fact that this supporting surface 84 holds the flap portion of the valve 78 away from the ends of the openings 54 it is impossible for the valve 78 to collapse and be sucked into the openings 54. Such action would eventually damage the valve 78 and would also tend to jam the thin portions of the valve into the openings 54 so that they would not push out again with light excess of pressure in the openings 54.

There is a ring 88 located along the sleeve 34 in position to provide a shoulder for the lower end of the body portion 80 of the gas check valve 78. Thus this ring 88, which preferably snaps into a groove in the sleeve 34, holds the valve 78 in assembled position on the sleeve 34 and in contact with the lower end of the bushing 32 without compressing the valve 78 which is preferably made of soft and flexible plastic. The tube 22 fits tightly over the lower end of the sleeve 34, and the ring 88 pro 4 vides a shoulder for limiting the extent to which the tube 22 can telescope over the sleeve 34 and thus protects the valve 78 from being compressed or distorted by having the tube 22 pushed up too far on the sleeve 34 when the apparatus is originally assembled.

Because of the fact that no part of the assembly which has to be inserted through the opening 40 is larger than the adaptor 30, it is possible to insert the assembly into the keg through the openings 40 and without having to perform any manipulative operations through the bunghole of the keg such as was required with keg fittings of the prior art. Although the adaptor 30 can be made to fit tightly in the opening 40, the preferred construction bonds the adaptor 30 to the cylindrical side wall 42 of the opening 40. This bonding can be formed with various metal cements and is preferably bonded with a plastic material which forms a chemical bond to the metal of the adaptor 30 and the side wall 42.

The keg fitting 20 is used with a customers fitting 96 comprising a cap 98 which screws over the threads 48 on the skirt 47 around the flange 46 of adaptor 30. The cap 98 has upwardly and radially extending handles 102 by which it can be rotated to attach it to the threads 48 on a new keg, orto remove it from the threads of an empty keg without requiring the use of a wrench.

The customer's fitting 96 also has a housing 104 on which a flange 106 is located in the cap 98 under a shoulder 108 of the cap. As the cap 98 is screwed down on the threads 48, the shoulder 108 pulls the housing 104 against the top of the keg fitting 20 and clamps the housing against the kegfitting with a plastic washer 110 between the confronting faces of the keg fitting 20 and the housing 104. An extension 112 at the lower end of the housing 104 and beyond the washer 110, extends into the main opening or passage 52 of the keg fitting when the customer's fitting is brought into position for connection to the keg fitting. The lower end of the extension 112 contacts with the spider 68 and as the cap 98 is screwed down over the keg fitting 20, the extension 112 pushes the spider 68 down, against the force of the spring 70, and moves the valve 64 away from the seat 62 so that beer can fiow from the keg.

The extension 112 has an O-ring 116 in a circumferential groove and this O-ring seals the assembly against the escape of beer between the extension 112 and the side wall of the opening 52 while the cap 98 is being screwed down on the keg fitting 20.

When the cap 98 has been screwed down all the way on the keg fitting 20, the washer 110 is tightly clamped between the confronting faces of the keg fitting 20 and the housing 104, as previously explained; and this provides an additional seal against leakage.

There is a passage 118 opening through the housing 104 for the flow of beer from the keg. A conventiona shut off valve 120 is attached to the housing 104, in alignment with the passage 118, by threads 122 at the upper end of the housing 104. The upper end of the shut off valve 120 has threads 124 for connecting the valve with a beer delivery line 126.

There is a passage in the housing 104 for the fiow of gas. A tube connector fitting 132 is threaded into a socket in the upper end of the passage 130 for connection with a gas pressure supply line 136. There are a plurality of holes through the washer 110 since none of these holes 140 may be in alignment with the passage 130, there is a channel 142 in the top face of the washer 110. This channel is annular and all of the holes 140 open into the channel 142. Regardless of the angular position of the washer 110 about the center line of the customer fitting 76, the channel 142 is always located under the passage 130 and thus the passage 130 communicates with all of the holes 140 through the washer 110.

There is a similar channel 142 in the bottom face of the washer 118 and all of the holes 140 open into this channel 142. On opposite sides of the channel 142 there are annular areas of the bottom face of the washer 110 which seal against a portion of the bushing 132 radially inward from the upper ends of the openings 54 so that there can be no leakage of gas or beer ,across the top of the bushing 32 between the main opening 52 and the gas openings 54. There is another annular area of the bottom face of the washer 110 radially outward of the channel 142' for sealing against leakage of gas outward across the top of the bushing 32. In the illustrated construction, this area of the Washer 110, which contacts with the top of the bushing 32 outside of the limits of the annular channel 142' extends across the interfaces between the bushing 32 and the adaptor 30 so as to seal any clearance between these interfaces if the bushing is not bonded to the adaptor.

The washer 110 is made of plastic material, such as neoprene and is soft enough to undergo some displacement of material as the result of the clamping pressure between the customers fitting and the keg fitting. This insures a good seal but soft grades of neoprene when under pressure may have the material of the washer displaced sufficiently to close or substantially close the holes 140, or clamping sides of the channels 142 and 142' with pressure that collapses the channels, or that substantially collapses them so that there is insufficient open cross section for adequate flow of beer. To prevent excessive displacement of the plastic material of the washer 110, a stiff metal plate 146 is imbedded in the Washer 140 and this limits the distortion of the washer radially as the re sult of clamping pressure. The washer 110 is preferably molded around the stiff metal plate 146.

FIGURE 5 shows a modified construction in which the keg has a top wall 12' with .an opening 40 which has no upstanding side walls. There is a fitting 30, which is of similar construction to the adaptor 30 except that it has a flange 150 at its lower end, preferably of one piece construction with the rest of the fitting 30'. The flange 150 is bonded to the top surface of the wall 12' of the keg and may be connected with the top wall by welding .152. This fitting 130 makes it unnecessary to have any adaptor for the keg fitting since the fitting 30' which is a part of the keg also forms the outer element of the keg fitting when the parts are assembled in the same way as in FIG- URE 2.

The preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, but changes and modifications can be made, and some features can be used in different combinations without departing from the invention as defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In apparatus for withdrawing beer from a keg that has an opening through a wall thereof and that has a keg fitting which extends into the opening through the wall, said keg fitting including a bushing having a main opening therethr'ough for the flow of beer and having a smaller opening therethrough radially outward from the main opening for the flow of gas, a sleeve at the lower part of the main opening extending downwardly beyond the rest of the fitting, a tube connected with the sleeve and extending to the bottom of the keg, each part of the assembly within the keg having a cross section that fits through said opening in the keg, a check valve in the main opening and part of which is in position to be displaced to open said check valve when a complementary customers fitting is brought into assembled relation with said keg fitting, the improvement which comprises a flaptype check valve for the gas passage, the gas check valve being made of resilient plastic material and having a body portion that extends axially of the sleeve and is mounted sealingly about the sleeve and is of substantial cross section and stiffness to prevent the body portion from collapsing into the gas passage when subjected to substantial back pressure from the keg, the gas check valve also having a thin flexible portion, outward of the body portion for providing sensitive hinge action for the open ing and closing of said gas check valve, the gas check valve also having a rim section radially outward beyond the thin flexible portion and of larger cross section than the flexible portion, the thin flexible portion having a bias toward the gas passage and being of insufiicient stiffness to prevent its being forced into the gas passage unless restrained by the rim section, and an abutment surface on the keg fitting radially outward from the gas passage and with which the rim section of the gas check valve contacts, the rim section and the abutment surface being shaped to cooperate in holding the thin flexible portion of the gas check valve against displacement into the gas passage when the gas pressure in the keg is substantially greater than the pressure in the gas passage.

2. The apparatus described in claim 1 characterized by the upper end face of the surface of the gas check valve, which is in alignment with the discharge end of the gas passage, being at an acute angle to the axis of said discharge end of the gas passage for deflecting the gas flow radially outward from the body portion of the gas check valve, and said supporting surface and the face of the check valve that confronts said supporting surface being substantially at right angles to said upper end face of the gas check valve.

3. The apparatus described in claim 2 characterized by a hose forming the lower portion of the conduit and fitting over an upper part of the conduit around which the body portion of the gas check valve fits, the gas check valve being annular and fitting around the upper portion of the conduit, a shoulder on the upper portion of the conduit holding the gas check valve in assembled relation with the bushing, and another shoulder on the upper portion of the conduit limiting the extent to which said upper portion of the conduit can be inserted into the hose so that the hose cannot interfere with the gas check valve.

4. The apparatus described in claim 1 characterized by a keg to which the keg fitting is connected, said keg fitting extending into an opening through a wall of the keg with some clearance between a cylindrical outside surface of the keg fitting and the confronting face of the opening through the wall of the keg, and a bonding layer of material in said clearance and securing surface areas of the keg fitting to confronting surface areas of the sides of the opening through the Wall of the keg.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 614,465 11/1898 Habermann 222464 694,477 3/ 1902 Howland 222-400.7 2,041,427 5/1936 Meyer 222-400.7 X 2,715,980 8/1955 Frick 222-494 X 3,049,385 8/1962 Smith 277-212 3,065,885 11/ 1962 Chatten 222400.7 3,090,530 5/1963 Peeps 222-4007 3,173,586 3/1965 PaWson 222400.7 3,190,680 6/1965 Maly 285-49 3,231,149 1/1966 Yuza 222-494 X 3,231,154 1/1966 Johnston 222400.7

ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner. N. L. STACK, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN APPARATUS FOR WITHDRAWING BEER FROM A KEG THAT HAS AN OPENING THROUGH A WALL THEREOF AND THAT HAS A KEG FITTING WHICH EXTENDS INTO THE OPENING THROUGH THE WALL, SAID KEG FITTING INCLUDING A BUSHING HAVING A MAIN OPENING THERETHROUGH FOR THE FLOW OF BEER AND HAVING A SMALLER OPENING THERETHROUGH RADIALLY OUTWARD FROM THE MAIN OPENING FOR THE FLOW OF GAS, A SLEEVE AT THE LOWER PART OF THE MAIN OPENING EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY BEYOND THE REST OF THE FITTING, A TUBE CONNECTED WITH THE SLEEVE AND EXTENDING TO THE BOTTOM OF THE KEG, EACH PART OF THE ASSEMBLY WITHIN THE KEG HAVING A CROSS SECTION THAT FITS THROUGH SAID OPENING IN THE KEG, A CHECK VALVE IN THE MAIN OPENING AND PART OF WHICH IS IN POSITION TO BE DISPLACED TO OPEN SAID CHECK VALVE WHEN A COMPLEMENTARY CUSTOMER''S FITTING IS BROUGHT INTO ASSEMBLED RELATION WITH SAID KEG FITTING, THE IMPROVEMENT WHICH COMPRISES A FLAPTYPE CHECK VALVE FOR THE GAS PASSAGE, THE GAS CHECK VALVE BEING MADE OF RESILIENT PLASTIC MATERIALD AND HAVING A BODY PORTION THAT EXTENDS AXIALLY OF THE SLEEVE AND IS MOUNTED SEALINGLY ABOUT THE SLEEVE AND IS OF SUBSTANTIAL CROSS SECTION AND STIFFNESS TO PREVENT THE BODY PORTION FROM COLLAPSING INTO THE GAS PASSAGE WHEN SUBJECTED TO SUBSTANTIAL BACK PRESSURE FROM THE KEG, THE GAS CHECK VALVE ALSO HAVING A THIN FLEXIBLE PORTION, OUTWARD OF THE BODY PORTION FOR PROVIDING SENSITIVE HINGE ACTION FOR THE OPENING AND CLOSING OF SAID GAS CHECK VALVE, THE GAS CHECK VALVE ALSO HAVING A RIM SECTION RADIALLY OUTWARD BEYOND THE THIN FLEXIBLE PORTION AND OF LARGER CROSS SECTION THAN THE FLEXIBLE PORTION, THE THIN FLEXIBLE PORTION HAVING A BIAS TOWARD THE GAS PASSAGE AND BEING OF INSUFFICIENT STIFFNESS TO PREVENT ITS BEING FORCED INTO THE GAS PASSAGE UNLESS RESTRAINED BY THE RIM SECTION, AND AN ABUTMENT SURFACE ON THE KEG FITTING RADIALLY OUTWARD FROM THE GAS PASSAGE AND WITH WHICH THE RIM SECTION OF THE GAS CHECK VALVE CONTACTS, THE RIM SECTION AND THE ABUTMENT SURFACE BEING SHAPED TO COOPERATE IN HOLDING THE THIN FLEXIBLE PORTION OF THE GAS CHECK VALVE AGAINST DISPLACEMENT INTO THE GAS PASSAGE WHEN THE GAS PRESSURE IN THE KEG IS SUBSTANTIALLY GREATER THAN THE PRESSURE IN THE GAS PASSAGE. 